The Lost Purse
by Merrymary05
Summary: Darien finds a lost purse and based on the contents alone he determines that the owner could be the woman of his dreams. What happens when he finds out that the owner isn't who he was expecting?


**Author's note: **I know I haven't written anything in a while because life has gotten in the way, but I wrote this on a whim and decided to post it. It only took me a day to write it so I realize it's not my best work, but I hope you like it anyway. I don't own the copyrights to Sailor Moon or Shakespeare's sonnets

**The Lost Purse**

Darien had just finished studying for three hours at the library and needed some time to relax before going home for the day. He went to his favorite thinking spot in the rose garden to catch the sunset and took a seat at his normal bench. It was times like this that he enjoyed the most; admiring nature without worrying about anything at the moment. It was his time to de-stress about school, work, and all of his other responsibilities. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath as he moved his legs to a more comfortable position, but he felt something when his feet met the ground. He opened his eyes and bent down to see what it was. He frowned when he realized it was a small pink purse someone had left behind and picked it up. _I should open it to see if there's any identification, _Darien reasoned with himself.

He carefully removed the contents from the purse and set the items on his lap even though he felt a bit awkward about it. "No wallet," he muttered after he spread everything on the bench. "Maybe there's something that has her name on it." He dismissed the strawberry chapstick, rose scented lotion, and spearmint gum and put it back in the purse right away. He smiled as he replaced the two chocolate candy bar wrappers, a free ice cream coupon, and the pink pen with rabbits on it. His interest was peaked when he saw a pink guitar pick and a pink iPod. After a quick scan, he found that there was a mix of pop, indie, and singer/songwriter artists along with a large collection of classical music. After putting those back in the purse, he examined a couple of calculus and physics worksheets. All of the answers were filled in correctly, but of course neither one of them had a name on it. After he put the worksheets back and found a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ and a book of Shakespeare's sonnets remaining on the bench.

He opened the front covers of both and didn't find a name, but he saw the tip of what looked like a book mark in the book of sonnets. He opened to the page where the bookmark was and of course none of them had a name on it, but his heart stopped for a second when he found that the bookmark was actually a business card from the local orphanage. He knew that the only people who got business cards from there were people interested in adoption, people applying for a job, or people interested in volunteering there. Judging from the worksheets, he figured this girl must still be in high school so she wouldn't be adopting or applying for a job quite yet. _If only there were volunteers when I was growing up_, he thought bitterly. He shook his head and started to read the sonnet the girl had left off at to clear those negative thoughts. It was one of his favorite sonnets Shakespeare had written; Sonnet 18:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?  
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:  
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,  
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:  
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,  
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;  
And every fair from fair sometime declines,  
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;  
But thy eternal summer shall not fade  
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;  
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,  
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:  
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,  
So long lives this and this gives life to thee."

Darien smiled to himself as he closed the book and placed it and the other contents back in the purse. Whoever this girl was, she was someone special. Based on the contents alone, he could tell she was an intelligent, romantic, compassionate girl who has a slight sweet tooth and a child-like heart. She was sophisticated, but didn't take herself extremely seriously like he did. _I could use someone like that in my life_, Darien thought to himself. He laughed. It was just plain silly to have feelings for someone he never met. He took the purse and started walking towards the police station to turn it in.

Darien got to the police station within a few minutes and saw a police woman sitting at the front desk. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," Darien started as he set the purse down. "I found this purse in the park about 10 minutes ago. I looked inside to see if there was any identification, but I couldn't find any."

"Don't you know it's rude to go through a woman's purse?" she asked. Darien blushed. "I'm kidding, honey. You did the right thing. We'll take care of it from here."

"Thank you so much," Darien said. "Have a good evening." He exited the police station and made a long walk to his apartment.

***The Next Day***

Darien came into the arcade that afternoon and took a seat at the counter where a newspaper and a cup of coffee were already waiting for him. He smiled and got out his wallet to tip Andrew. "How many times do I have to tell you that you don't have to do that?" a voice said in front of him.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that I want to, Drew?" Darien retorted as he gave him a few dollars. "You can't keep giving me free coffee and newspapers forever."

Andrew rolled his eyes and put the money in his pocket knowing he was right. "Did you ever finish studying for that test that's like a month away?"

Darien gave his best friend a look. "It's two weeks away and no I didn't finish. I couldn't concentrate after I got home from the library."

"You study too much, man. But in all the years I've known you, I've never known of anything being able to distract you from studying… unless it's a girl?"

"I wasn't thinking about Meatball Head," Darien said defensively. "It was someone totally different."

"So it was a girl?" Andrew asked excitedly. "And for the record you brought Serena up this time, not me."

"It wasn't like that," he said as he nudged him in the shoulder ignoring his comment about Serena. "I found a purse and turned it in to the police station last night. It didn't have any identification and I was just hoping that she was able to find it." Andrew gave him a look. "What?"

"So you're telling me instead of Serena, a mystery girl who lost her purse that you've never met distracted you from studying all night long?"

Darien sighed in annoyance. "Just forget I said anything about it, ok?"

Andrew laughed. "Whatever man." He left and went to serve other customers.

Darien picked up the newspaper and started reading it. He sipped his coffee while he skimmed an article until a familiar voice broke his concentration a few minutes later.

"Hi Andrew!" she said as she took a seat beside him. Darien turned to make a comment about her being so loud, but stopped himself when he saw the purse she was carrying. It was the exact same purse that he turned into the police station last night.

"Hey Serena," Andrew said as he came her way and placed a menu in front of her. "I see you found your purse."

"Yes," she said in a relieved voice. "I went to the police station like you told me to and luckily they had it."

"I'm glad," Andrew replied with a smile. "It's a good thing there's still honest people out there."

Serena nodded and opened the menu. She felt Darien staring at her and tried to ignore him, but couldn't do it. "What exactly are you staring at Jerk Face?" she asked when she finally faced him. She followed his eyes to her purse. "What? You haven't seen a purse before?"

_Wow,_ Darien thought as he continued staring back and forth between Serena and her purse. Serena wasn't the first person he thought of when he was examining the contents of the purse yesterday, but it wasn't completely unbelievable that she was the owner. Darien shook his head and focused on the girl in front of him. "I-it's nothing Meatball Head. I'm glad you found your purse."

Serena looked at him as if he grew another head. "Andrew, is your friend over here ok? He's acting really weird… well not entirely weird. He still _had_ to call me that stupid name."

"You started it," Darien mumbled. Serena stuck her tongue out at him.

"He's fine," Andrew said. "It's just a funny coincidence because Darien found a purse last night and turned it in to the police station…ugh sorry guys I have customers." Andrew walked away.

Serena found Darien staring at her and her purse again as realization hit her. "No way," she said. "Are you telling me _this_ is the purse you found yesterday?" Darien nodded and Serena gasped. "And _you_ looked in it?"

"I had to see if there was any identification in it," Darien said. "Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are." It came out a lot harsher than he meant it to and he instantly regretted it.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Darien?" Serena asked as she placed her hand on her hip. "I'm so sick of people like you always acting like they're so much better than me. Just because I don't always have the best grades in school doesn't mean I'm not trying or I can't be interested in sophisticated things. I get enough from my teachers and my parents and I don't need you to keep putting me down just because you don't believe in me." She groaned. "I'm out of here. Tell Andrew I lost my appetite." She got up and walked past him exiting the arcade.

Darien felt ashamed of himself. He only teased her in good fun, but he didn't really think that she took his comments to heart. The truth was yes he was surprised that she was the owner of the purse, but it was a pleasant surprise and he admired her more than ever. He looked down at the counter and ironically the purse was left behind again. He picked it up and went after her.

It didn't take him long to find her; he took a few steps in the direction he saw her go and collided with someone who had run into him. "I'm sorry," she said. "I…," she looked up and rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, it's just you."

"You left your purse," Darien said as he held it out to her. She snatched it from him and started to walk away. "Serena, wait."

She stopped before turning to face him. "What?" she said impatiently.

Even though her tone was angry, Darien could hear sadness in her voice too. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I never meant for anything I said to make you feel bad about yourself."

Serena took a deep breath. "I know… I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to go off on you. It's just that I'm under a lot of pressure lately and…" She sighed. "Forget it. Why would you care anyway?"

"Because I'm proud of you," he said. She looked at him in confusion. "I was surprised that the stuff in your purse belonged to you, but at the same time it's not totally unbelievable. You've come a long way from the girl who threw her math test at me." She smiled. "I know I haven't been your greatest cheerleader, but I've watched you work hard to become the young woman you are today. You're an amazing person, Serena, and I know you're gonna achieve great things."

"You could tell all of that from the stuff you saw in my purse?" He nodded. "I really appreciate that, Darien. It means a lot coming from you."

Darien smiled at her. "You're welcome, Meatball Head."

Serena smacked him in the arm. "I really wish you would stop calling me that."

Darien smirked. "How about I buy you some ice cream as a peace offering? I know a great place that sells chocolate and strawberry swirl and I could give you some pointers about volunteering at the orphanage."

"Really?" Serena said as her eyes brightened. "I would love that!" Darien smiled as her listened to her talk about her passion for children and her other hopes and dreams as they walked to his favorite ice cream shop. He wasn't sure when he would tell her, but she was indeed the woman of his dreams and all it took for him to realize it was a lost purse.

**The End**


End file.
